Dedicated to an era long gone featuring architectural photographs of houses, hotels, apartment and office buildings, civic institutions and more...many of which are no longer standing.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The RMS Titanic

The RMS Titanic built by Harland & Wolff c. 1912 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage April 10th, 1912 from Southampton en route to New York City with 2,223 people on board. On April 14, 1912, 100 years ago today, the ship struck an iceberg and would break up and sink at 2:20am on April 15th, taking with her 1,517 souls. Some of the notable names included J.J. Astor IV, Benjamin Guggenheim and Isidor Straus. The bodies of Astor and Straus were recovered together two weeks after the sinking. Click HERE for more on the Titanic.

J.P. Morgan had been expected onboard but cancelled at the last minute. He wound up dying in his sleep almost exactly one year later.

I wonder how his historical reputation would have played out today had he died "heroically" on the Titanic instead of going out in his sleep the following year. From a business perspective it really wouldn't have changed anything.

I can only assume it would have had the same effect it did on J.J. Astor's reputation.

I'm sure they'd say the same for the likes of Apollo 13, United 97 and the HBO shows Band of Brothers and The Pacific (among many others).

It highlights a disdain for history among the younger generation more than anything. If it were 20 years ago and there was no Google it would be easier to accept. But 2 seconds and a computer would very quickly show any of them that the Titanic was more than a movie. Just that name of them cared enough to bother looking.